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Saturday, 21 April 2012

Mail from the Andes

Packages from the postman are always exciting, but this one was even more special, even though it was a little smaller and lighter than we expected.

You have propably no idea what it is; it is not a very common crop in regions outside Peru and Bolivia. It is called yacón, or Bolivian sunroot or Peruvian ground apple, but its official name is Polymnia sonchifolia. It is a relative of topinambours and sunflowers, and will therefore also grow into a lengthy plant with yellow flowers. The leafs contain inulin, which can serve to replace sugar and fat. Actually, the reason why we ordered this plant is situated underground. Yacón is grown for its sweet juicy roots. They are crispy and have an interesting flavour somewhere between pear and melon. The only bad thing is that we have to wait until the end of the year to try this one out for ourselves!

P.s. if you would like some yacón roots for your garden as well, e-mail us, so we can send you the order information. It is only possible for Belgium and Dutch addresses though. Or you can also wait until our harvest is ready.